McDonald's?

So, I have to be honest.  And I was really shocked by this too.  By the second full day in Thailand I was craving some good old, greasy, American food.  I never once craved American food when we were in Hong Kong but I didn't like northern Thai food nearly as much as Cantonese or American food and I was needing a fix of something.  Sooo...after petting various sized tigers for much of the day, which is decidedly an activity not available in the US, we ventured to....McDonald's, an American staple.  Don't judge.  I needed a cheeseburger and fries like nobody's business.  Best tasting McDonald's of my life.

It wasn't exactly like McDonald's in the States as it had rice bowl options and other items you wouldn't see in the US, but it still had everything we wanted.

So later that day, I convinced Ryan to get a Thai massage.  We had gone for foot reflexology the night before and it felt glorious after all the walking and elephant riding we had done so I was convinced a Thai massage would help even more.  Oh.  My.  I did not know what I was getting us into.  When I think of massages I mainly think of soothing my body by getting some kinks worked out and muscles worked on.  Thai massage was in no way soothing.  So, we walk into the room and they give us these loose little outfits to change into, kind of like scrubs, and they told us to lie face up on the mats.  I couldn't figure out why we had to wear a full body of clothing and I thought it was a little strange that we had to lie face-up.  Then they came in and they literally sat on the mat right there with us and started the massage.  They pushed and pulled and squeezed and elbowed and I grimaced and grunted and winced and tried not to cry.  I remember looking over at Ryan once and noting that he was making the same faces I was.  I was stretched in ways I didn't know my body could stretch and I was actually crawled on by another human being (thank goodness she was tiny).  I did feel pretty good when the massage was over but I'm not sure if it was because the massage helped or I was just glad I was out of pain.  It's a good thing Ryan is a good sport.  He isn't the biggest fan of massages in the first place but he didn't really give me too much trouble about the whole ordeal.

That night we decided to try a seafood place I had seen the night before.  We ended up eating half of Ryan's dish because we thought it was the appetizer since it showed up first.  Oops.  Ryan's a good sharer.

There were some dancers right outside the restaurant.  I think they were all men dressed up as women but it was a little hard for me to tell because they sure had some pretty bodies and they could move!

That night, I was introduced to my favorite Thai food item.  Thai Iced Tea.  Why have I not had this before? It is a beautiful concoction of an orange hued tea (I have no idea what kind) with condensed milk and creamer and it is amazing!  I wasn't sure about it but I figured I should try it since I was in Thailand.  I couldn't get enough.  I could drink those things all day long.  And I have a new found love for condensed milk and immediately purchased two cans of it when I returned to the States.